Mischa Barton Regrets Her Stint on 'The O.C.'

For a brief time in the early 2000s, Mischa Barton was a household name, thanks to her starring role on hit teen soap "The O.C." But the actress revealed in a recent interview that she wasn't too thrilled with the experience.

When asked by the U.K.'s Metro whether she would take the role of Marissa Cooper if she had a do-over, Barton made it clear she had no interest in reliving her star-making role.

"Probably not," she said, adding that she regretted the crazy fame (and alleged loss of a movie career) that came with it.

"It's something I came so close to not doing," Barton said of her three seasons on the Fox show. "I had a really great thing with film. People say be grateful for what you have but it certainly not the kind of thing I was expecting it to be. ... I've kind of seen it all."

That "all" included major tabloid coverage, a drunk driving arrest, and a string of failed TV and film projects, including CW series "The Beautiful Life," which was cancelled in 2009 after two episodes. Despite all that, Barton told Metro that she chose not to focus on the negative.

"I just like to be seen for the hard-working actress that I am and not for a bunch of extraneous press," said Barton, who's currently serving as a spokesmodel and judge for a U.K. e-cigarette company. "In general people are super quick to harbor on the gossipy stuff and less on how much work goes into it."